Chylothorax after hepatectomy: a case report

Chylothorax is the accumulation of chyle within the pleural space. Chylothorax can occur as a complication after multiple different types of surgery, most frequently after thoracic surgery, albeit with an inci...

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Bortezomib-Induced Pulmonary Toxicity: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, is an established therapy against multiple myeloma. Bortezomib-induced lung injury, although not appreciated during the introductory time of the medication, has now been highlighted in multiple case reports. The objective of this study is to report a case of bortezomib-induced lung injury, review current literature, and perform exploratory analysis.

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A Case Report of Acute Airway Compromise due to Subcutaneous Emphysema

In the acute management of a trauma patient, airway patency is of utmost importance. The present case describes a male patient who presented with delayed severe upper airway obstruction secondary to massive subcutaneous emphysema following blunt traumatic injury two days previously. Airway compromise is a rarely described but serious complication of subcutaneous emphysema. Current management of subcutaneous emphysema and its association with pneumothorax is summarized. Early decompression of underlying pneumothoraces in patients with significant subcutaneous emphysema should be performed to avoid this rare complication.

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Activity of cabozantinib in radioresistant brain metastases from renal cell carcinoma: two case reports

Renal cell carcinoma represents 3–5% of adult malignant tumors. Metastases are found in 30–40% of patients and brain metastases occurred in more than 10% of them. Despite significant progress in medical treatm...

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Toxicological and Biochemical Analyses of an Autopsy Case Involving Oral Overdose of Multiple Antidiabetic and Antihypertensive Drugs

Oral antidiabetics can cause fatal hypoglycemia; although they can be chemically identified and quantified, biochemical investigations are important for assessing the biological consequences of an overdose. Such cases of overdose involving oral antidiabetics may involve other drugs for treating lifestyle-related diseases, particularly antihypertensives. Here, we report a toxicological and biochemical investigation of drugs and biochemical profiles in a fatal overdose involving multiple oral antidiabetics and antihypertensives. A 55-year-old woman died about 2 days after the ingestion of around 110 tablets of antidiabetics and antihypertensives that had been prescribed for her husband. A forensic autopsy and histological analysis demonstrated no evident pathology as the cause of death. A toxicological analysis suggested hypoglycemia and an overdose of antihypertensives as well as the retention of antidiabetics and diuretics in the pericardial fluid. A relatively low pericardial amlodipine concentration was observed, which may have been the result of its long half-life (slower distribution and reduction rate) and/or possible affinity with the myocardium. In addition, a biochemical analysis indicated hypoglycemia, without increased serum insulin and C-peptide, but with increased glucagon levels, as the possible influence of glibenclamide overdose. These observations suggest the usefulness of a combination of toxicological and biochemical analyses in postmortem investigations involving a fatal overdose of such drugs.

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Efficiency of the TOF-Cuff™ for the evaluation of rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block and its reversal with sugammadex: a comparative study vs. acceleromyography

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to compare TOF-Cuff™ (TOF-C) and TOF-Watch™ (TOF-W) data following rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block and its reversal with sugammadex.

Methods

Twenty elderly patients aged 68–82 years scheduled for surgery under general anesthesia were enrolled in this study. After induction of anesthesia, neuromuscular block resulting from administration of 0.6 mg/kg rocuronium was concurrently evaluated using TOF-C and TOF-W. The onset of neuromuscular block and duration until the first twitch response following post-tetanic count (PTC) and 2 Hz train-of-four (TOF) stimulation reappeared were evaluated. When the response to the TOF stimulus was detected with both monitors, additional doses of rocuronium were administered to maintain the neuromuscular block. After surgery, 2 mg/kg sugammadex was administered when 1–2 TOF twitches were observed with the TOF-W and the time required for facilitated recovery to a TOF ratio of > 0.9 was assessed.

Results

Regression analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in the mean [SD] onset of rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block [127.8 (27.2) s, 123.5 (30.5) s], time to recovery of the first PTC twitch [23.9 (8.0) min, 25.4 (8.6) min], time to recovery of the first twitch with TOF stimulation [37.2 (8.8) min, 38.9 (11.1) min] and time to adequate reversal with sugammadex [139.2 (30.6) s, 151.8 (31.5) s] between TOF-C and TOF-W, respectively. Bland–Altman analyses also showed acceptable ranges of the biases and limits of agreement between the two methods.

Conclusions

TOF-C may be clinically applicable for the evaluation of both the depth of neuromuscular block and restoration of neuromuscular function.

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Postoperative thoracic and low back pain following endovascular aortic repair associated with stenting location

Abstract

Background

We have noted that patients frequently complain of thoracic or low back pain after undergoing an endovascular aortic repair, which we speculated was caused by the indwelling stent.

Methods

We investigated the patients who underwent an elective thoracic or abdominal endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR or EVAR) and noted the location of stent, and postoperative pain. The incidence of either thoracic or low back pain at individual vertebra levels was determined, after which we fitted the sigmoidal function to the discrete data to obtain a cut-off line. The study patients were then divided into 2 groups using the cut-off line to compare the incidence of pain.

Results

We analyzed 96 patients (68 TEVAR, 28 EVAR). The incidence of thoracic pain was significantly higher in TEVAR as compared to EVAR (26.5% vs. 3.6%, P = 0.01), while that of low back pain was significantly higher in EVAR (35.7% vs. 16.2%, P = 0.04). With the cut-off line for thoracic pain set at the 12th thoracic vertebra, the incidence of thoracic pain was significantly higher in patients with the upper end of the stent above the cut-off as compared to at a lower point (26.5% vs. 3.6%, P = 0.01). As for low back pain, the cut-off line was set at the 9th thoracic vertebra, and the incidence of that pain was significantly higher in patients with the lower end of the stent below that line (30.9% vs. 0.0%, P < 0.01).

Conclusion

Thoracic and low back pain after an endovascular aortic repair procedure were associated with stenting site.

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